New sports facilities do not drive migration between US cities

Imran Arif, Adam Hoffer, Brad Humphreys and Matthew Style
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Adam Hoffer: University of Wisconsin—La Crosse
Matthew Style: University of Wisconsin—La Crosse

Economics of Governance, 2022, vol. 23, issue 3, No 2, 195-217

Abstract: Abstract Migrants play a vital role in economic development, and city amenities play an important role in attracting migrants. This paper explores the role of one such amenity—major league sports stadiums—plays in intra-U.S. migration decisions. We use Internal Revenue Service tax-filing data and stadium construction data for major sports stadiums between 1991 and 2014 to create an unbalanced panel of migration flows between 439,386 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) pairs. Analyzing migration patterns over various time windows following the construction of new sports facilities, we find little evidence that new sports facility construction or the aggregate expenditures on new sports stadiums draw migrants between U.S. MSAs. We find weak evidence that suggests stadium construction acts as a deterrent to migration. Our primary conclusion is that spending on stadiums is not only ineffective in attracting migrants, but the opportunity cost associated with stadium construction likely reduces the ability of MSAs to attract migrants through the provision of other amenities or public goods.

Keywords: Migration; Sports subsidies; Crony capitalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 R23 R28 Z28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10101-022-00271-4

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